Device For Filling A Cigarette Tube

ABSTRACT

A device for automatically filling cigarette tubes meters out a dose of loose tobacco, feeds the dose to a press unit that presses the dose into a roll of tobacco corresponding in size to the size of a pre-manufactured paper cigarette tube. The roll is automatically injected into a paper tube. The various assemblies and units are mounted on a support structure and enclosed in a housing, so the device is safe to operate.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to the field of the manufacture of cigarettes. More particularly, the invention relates to filling a thin paper tube with tobacco.

2. Discussion of the Prior Art

Many cigarette smokers like to make their own cigarettes, to reduce the cost of smoking or to make a cigarette with a particular blend of tobaccos. Frequently, a device for filling a pre-formed paper tube is used. One such cigarette filling device is once called the SUPERMATIC 2. Tobacco is stuffed into an open chamber on the device and, using a hand crank, the device compresses the tobacco into a cylindrical form and injects the compressed tobacco into a cigarette tube that is affixed to a nozzle on the side of the device. Understandably, the production of filled cigarettes is a slow process and requires a significant amount of effort on the part of the person using the device.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,913,022 B2 discloses another device for filling a cigarette tube. This device may be manually, semi-automatically, or automatically operated. A metering unit moves a proper amount of tobacco into a compression chamber.

What is needed, therefore, is a device that automatically and quickly produces filled cigarette. What is further needed is such a device that is safe and reliable to use.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a device for producing cigarettes by injecting a compressed, pre-formed portion of tobacco into a pre-manufactured cigarette tube. The cigarette-filling machine is an automated device that has a hopper filled with loose tobacco and another hopper filled with empty paper cigarette tubes. The device feeds a dose of tobacco to a pressing unit, which presses the dose into a tube-shaped charge of tobacco, and then automatically injects the charge of tobacco into a paper cigarette tube. The appropriate loading and unloading stations are provided, so that the user, after filling the feed systems for the tobacco and cigarette tubes, only has to unload the filled cigarettes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements.

FIG. 1 a perspective view of a device 100 for filling a cigarette tube.

FIG. 1A is a top plan view of the device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 1B is a top plan view of the device, with feeder hopper and tube dispenser removed.

FIG. 2.1 is a cross-sectional view of a tobacco blend assembly feeder and assemblies of the clamp into the compression chamber.

FIG. 2.2 is a perspective view the tobacco blend assembly feeder.

FIG. 3.1 is a side elevation view of the tobacco press.

FIG. 3.2 is a top plan view of the tobacco press.

FIG. 3.3 is a cross-sectional view of the tobacco press.

FIG. 3.4 is a top plan view of the device of FIG. 1, showing upper plate with window and one side of the window out of square with the other sides.

FIG. 3.5 is a side elevation view of the upper plate, showing the slanted surface.

FIG. 4.1 is a side elevation view of a movable jaw.

FIG. 4.2 is a top plan view of the movable jaw.

FIG. 5.1 is a cross-sectional view of the fixed jaw.

FIG. 5.2 is a top plan view of the fixed jaw.

FIG. 6.1 is a side plan view of the tobacco loading set.

FIG. 6.2 is a cross-section of the tobacco loading truck.

FIG. 6.3 a top plan view of the tobacco loading set.

FIG. 7.1 is a plan side view of a paper-tube dispenser unit.

FIG. 7.2 is a plane front view of the paper-tube dispenser unit.

FIG. 7.3 is a first perspective view of the paper-tube dispenser unit.

FIG. 7.4 is a second perspective view of the paper-tube dispenser unit.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the paper-tube conveyor.

FIG. 9.1 is a cross-sectional view of a paper-tube slider unit.

FIG. 9.2 is a top plan view of the paper-tube slider unit.

FIG. 10.1 is a front perspective view of a paper-tube feeding mechanism.

FIG. 10.2 is a second perspective view of the paper-tube feeding mechanism.

FIG. 10.3 is a rear plan view of the paper-tube feeding mechanism.

FIG. 11.1 is a side plan view of an indirect tobacco-loading trolley.

FIG. 11.2 is a top plan view of the indirect tobacco-loading trolley.

FIG. 12.1 is a side plan view of a tobacco-unloading trolley.

FIG. 12.2 is a top plan view of the tobacco-unloading trolley.

FIG. 13 illustrates the movable clamp.

FIG. 14 illustrates the tobacco loading trolley.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be described more fully in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention should not, however, be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, they are provided so that this disclosure will be complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

FIGS. 1 and 1A illustrate a cigarette-tube filling device 100 according to the invention for filling a pre-manufactured paper cigarette tube with tobacco. The cigarette-tube filling device 100 comprises a tobacco feeder 1, a tobacco press unit 2, a tobacco injector, a paper-tube feeder 34, a tobacco loading trolley 30, and a cigarette-unloading trolley. All assemblies of the cigarette-tube filling device 100 are mounted on a support frame 90. Loose tobacco and empty cigarette paper tubes are filled manually into respective hoppers or feeders on the cigarette-tube filling device 100 and the device, when set in operation, automatically compresses and forms a metered amount of tobacco into a roll that corresponds in diameter and length to the internal diameter and length of a cigarette paper tube, injects the paper tube with the tobacco roll, cuts and trims excess tobacco, and ejects a finished cigarette. The various steps are interdependent and the process is monitored by suitable sensors and warning systems.

FIGS. 2.1 and 2.2 illustrate the tobacco feeder 1, which is mounted on the tobacco press 2, as can be seen in FIG. 1, such that the bottom of the tobacco feeder 1 feeds into the tobacco press 2 as will be described below. The tobacco feeder 1 includes a tobacco hopper 1A and a tobacco feed means 2A. In the embodiment shown, the tobacco feed means 2A includes a rotor 5 having splines or conical spikes 6, installed toward the discharge opening of the hopper 1A. The rotor 5 is driven by a tobacco-feed stepper motor 8 with gear wheels.

FIGS. 2.2 and 2.2 also illustrate details of the tobacco press or clamping assembly 2, whereby FIG. 2.1 illustrates a first side of the tobacco press 2 and the tobacco feeder 1 and shows details of the tobacco feeder 1, and FIG. 2.2 illustrates a second side of the tobacco press and tobacco feeder and shows details of the tobacco press 2. An arm assembly 9, which, in the embodiment shown, includes three movable arms 9, is mounted on a shaft 10, the orientation of the arms relative to the shaft being fixed by means of a screw 11. The tobacco press 2 is driven by an eccentric cam 12 that is mounted inside the housing 34 on a shaft 13. The cam 12 itself is driven by a tobacco press stepper motor 14, which has a toothed belt. Rotating the cam 12 lifts or lowers the arms 9 of the tobacco press 2. The clamping force of the arms 9 is adjustable by a spring 9A. An inductive sensor 33 is mounted on the arm assembly 9 and emits a signal that controls operation of the tobacco press stepper motor 14.

FIGS. 3.1-3.6 illustrate further details of the tobacco press 2. The tobacco press 2 receives a dose of tobacco from the feeder 1 and forms it into a tobacco roll or charge having dimensions that substantially correspond to the dimensions of a paper cigarette tube. A movable clamp 16 and a fixed or resistance clamp 17 are assembled within a steel body 15 of the tobacco press 2. These clamps 16, 17 slide on guides 18 and 19, respectively, that are provided on the steel body 15. The guides 18, 19 are constructed of a bronze alloy, which provides a considerable slide during displacement. A through-bore 3 extends across the width of the steel body 15.

FIGS. 4.1-4.2 illustrate details of the movable clamp 16 and FIGS. 5.1-5.2 details of the fixed clamp 17. The movable clamp 16 includes a clamping plate 20 and a replaceable plate liner 21 that is removably fastened to the plate 20. The fixed clamp 17 includes a resistance plate 22 and a replaceable plate liner 23 that is removably affixed to the plate 22. A resistance plate limiter 24 and a safety spring 25 are provided at the end the clamp 17. The spring 25 is secured to a block 17.1 by means of a nut 26. An upper plate 28 is immovably affixed to the upper surface of the steel body 15. A compression chamber or window 4 of a suitable size for receiving a charge of tobacco is provided in the upper plate 28. The replaceable plate liners 21 and 23 and the upper plate 28 are made of stainless steel, hardened and ground. The inner end faces 21A and 23A of the respective liners 21 and 23 are formed as a semi-circular cutout with sharp edges. The radius of the cutouts matches the radius of the internal radius of a cigarette tube.

FIGS. 3.4 and 3.5 illustrate details of the window 4. One of the long sides, 4A, is at an angle other than 90 degrees to the short sides, i.e., is not exactly parallel to the opposite long side 4B. In the embodiment shown, the angle is 15 degrees relative to a parallel plane. A plane 4C bounded by the four sides of the window 4 is at a slant. All lower edges of the window 4 are sharp.

FIG. 13 illustrates the mechanism for moving the movable clamp 16. The movable clamp 16 moves in a back-and-forth translational motion, driven by a movable clamp stepper motor L16 that drives a press drive lever unit 1100 that includes a lever L17 and bearings (not shown) that are moved by a nut mechanism that cooperates with a ball screw L18. Rolling the nut on the screw moves the lever 117 that displaces the movable clamp 16 against the resistance clamp 17. The lever 117 is coupled to a press lever base 120 by means of a walking beam L26. The lever arm L17 is made of steel and has a joint at its upper end L30 that attaches to the movable clamp 16 and a joint at its lower end 123 that is coupled to the drive unit 131 for the movable clamp 16. The press lever base L20 is attached to the support frame 90 of the cigarette filling device 100. Shifting the nut along the screw to the right and left of the lever drive unit L18 sets the lever 117 in back-and-forth motion. This motion is transmitted to the movable clamp 16, which sets the clamp in motion. The pressure force of the clamping plate 20 on the resistance plate 17 causes the spring 25 to deflect and forces the fixed clamp 17 toward the movable bumper of a cleaning system unit L32, shown in FIG. 3.3. This motion causes a backlash, in the form of two beams carried on their end faces, between the movable clamp 16 and the fixed clamp 17. A port 3′ is formed when the clamps 16 and 17 are moved together. This port 3 aligns coaxially with the bore 3 in the steel body 15, shown in FIG. 3.1.

FIGS. 6.1-6.3 illustrate a tobacco loading trolley 30 which pushes the tobacco roll into a mouthpiece 72, shown in FIGS. 11.1 and 11.2, behind which is a paper cigarette tube. The tobacco charge that is held in the compression chamber 4 is pressed, as described above, to form a tobacco roll, which is then injected into the cigarette tube. The tobacco loading trolley 130 is driven by a tobacco loading lever unit C100, the details of which are shown in FIG. 14. The tobacco loading trolley 130 has a loading-trolley body 29, a loading-trolley block 30, and a loading rod 31. The loading-trolley body 29 is movably mounted on a trolley guide 32 that slides along a rail 32A that is affixed to the support frame 90 of the cigarette-tube filling device 100 (shown in FIG. 1). The loading rod 31 is fixedly mounted on the loading-trolley block 30, which is affixed to the trolley body 29. The rod 31 is aligned coaxially with the through-bore 3 in the tobacco-press main body 15. The trolley 130 with the rod 31 is driven by a tobacco-loading drive unit C2 in a back-and-forth motion along the rail 32A. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 14, the tobacco-loading drive unit is a stepper motor and a gear wheel. The rod 31 passes through the compression chamber 4 in the tobacco-press body 28 and through a tobacco mouthpiece 72. The back-and-forth motion of the tobacco-loading trolley 130 is driven by a loading-trolley stepper motor C3 and belt pulley C2 that drives a drive lever C7 and a tobacco-loading lever C1. The drive unit C2 has a bearing shaft C9 mounted in a bearing housing C10. The entire tobacco-loading drive unit C2 is mounted on the support frame 90. The tobacco-loading lever C1 has a joint C5 at its upper end and at its lower end. The upper end of the lever C1 is coupled to the tobacco loading truck 130 and the lower end to the drive lever C7. The tobacco-loading lever C1 is linked to the support frame 90 by means of a link C8. The drive lever C7 drives the tobacco-loading lever C1 such that the upper end of the lever moves in a back-and-forth motion, which in turn drives the tobacco loading truck 130 in a back-and-forth translational motion.

FIGS. 7.1-7.2 illustrate a paper-tube feeder assembly 140 feeds commercially available cigarette paper tubes a paper tube loading unit 150. The paper-tube feeder 140 has a paper tube conveyor 33, a paper tube dispenser 34, a paper-tube dispenser bracket 35, a paper tube feed channel 36, an optical sensor 37, a cigarette discharge channel 38, a slider unit 39, a slider drive unit 40, which, in this embodiment includes a solenoid 40 and a spring 41. The dispenser 34 is constructed in the form of a cube, the dimensions being matched to the dimensions of a box that contains the paper-tubes. The dispenser 34 is enclosed in a cover D1, which can be opened as needed, and is mounted on the housing 42 of the paper tube conveyor 33. The paper tube conveyor 33 transports the paper tubes from the dispenser 34 to a loading mouthpiece described below.

FIG. 8 illustrates the paper tube conveyor 33, which has a conveyance shaft 43, a tensioning shaft 44, a conveyor 45 that is a toothed belt, and a conveyor stepper motor 46 that drives the conveyor 45. The toothed belt is tensioned between the conveyance shaft 43 and the tensioning shaft 44. The shaft for the toothed belt 45 is supported in a conveyor housing 42. The paper tubes are stacked in the dispenser 34, above the conveyor 45. The forward travel of the toothed belt 45 allows one paper tube at a time to drop down into a conveyance space provided between any two adjacent teeth. As one paper tube is captured in the transport space and transported from the dispenser 34 toward the feed channel 36, another paper tube drops down into the next conveyance space in the belt 45.

FIGS. 9.1 and 9.2 illustrate further details of the paper tube dispenser 140. A slide unit 39 is mounted on a bracket 35 for the paper tube dispenser 140. The slide unit 39 has a lower guide 56 with two rectangular cutouts or windows and a slide 57 with two rectangular cutouts or windows, and an upper lead 58 with one rectangular cutout 58A. All rectangular cutouts in this unit 39 are the same size. A feed channel 36, shown in FIG. 7.1 and which facilitates feeding the paper tubes to the slide unit 39, is mounted on the upper plate 58 at the discharge end of the conveyor 45. The slide 57 slides in back-and-forth motion between the lower guide 56 and the upper guide 58. The first slide window always matches the second window of the lower guide 56. The slide 57 is driven by the slide drive unit 40.

FIGS. 10.1 and 10.2 illustrate a tobacco tamper unit 160, which comprises a tamper main body 59, arms 60, rods 61 with a diameter of φ5, a bumper rod 62, a solenoid fixing shaft 63, a solenoid spacer sleeve 64, a joint bearing 65, extension springs 66, a shaft 67, a solenoid 68, a clamping ring 69, a spring 70, and a set of standard parts. The tamper body 59 is mounted on the support frame 90 of the cigarette-tube filling device 100. The tamper arms 60, four in this embodiment, are mounted on a shaft with bearings and attached to the tamper main body 59. The arms 60 move the tamper rods 61 in a to-and-fro motion.”]. Each arm 60 is driven by a separate solenoid. The tamper rods 61 are set such a distance from each other, so that the first two exterior arms 61A precisely hit the block bore 47 in the discharge channel 38 of the bracket 35 on the paper-tube dispenser 140. The other two arms 61B are aligned coaxially with the bore of the loading trolley block 30. The resistance bumper 62 is also mounted in the main body 59 in joint slide bearings 65 that are manually adjustable by re-positioning the clamping ring 69. The arms 61B move the bumper 62 forward and the spring TO is a biasing spring that forces the return motion.

FIGS. 11.1 and 11.2 illustrate an indirect loading trolley 170, which includes an indirect trolley body 71, a tobacco mouthpiece 72, a tobacco cutter 73, a screw cover 74, and a trolley guide 75. The body 71 of the indirect trolley is fixed by screws to the trolley guide 75, which slides on guide rails that are affixed to the support frame 90. The tobacco mouthpiece 72 and the cutter 73 are screwed to the main body 71. The mouthpiece 72 has two stainless steel tubes, 72A and 72B that extend above the indirect trolley body 71. The cutter 73 may be constructed of any suitable material, such as, for example, stainless steel, hardened and ground. The indirect trolley 170 operates in a back-and-forth reciprocating motion and stops in two positions, alternatingly aligning tube 72A and tube 72B with the lateral bore 3 of the main body 15X of the tobacco press 2. The indirect trolley 170 is driven by a stepper motor.

FIGS. 12.1 and 12.2 illustrate an unloading trolley 180, which comprises an unloading trolley main body 81, an unloading block 82, and a trolley lead 84. The unloading trolley main body 81 is mounted on the trolley 84, which slides on a guide affixed to the support frame 90. The unloading block 82 is fixed to the top part of the main body 81 and has two through-bores 81A and 81B. The unloading trolley 180 operates in a back-and-forth reciprocating motion and stops at a position that alternatingly brings the through-hole 81A and the through-hole 81B into alignment with the through-bore 3 in the steel body 15. The entire unit is driven by the stepper motor.

The structure that forms the support frame 90 of the cigarette-tube filling device 100 is constructed of welded profiles and steel plates. The various assemblies of the cigarette-tube filling device 100 are mounted on the support frame 90. The support frame 90 with all the units of the cigarette-tube filling device 100 is placed in a housing (not shown). Any suitable material for the housing may be used, such as, for example, a compact powder-coated steel housing. The housing includes a display, a window for loading the paper tubes and a hopper for receiving the filled cigarettes. Service doors are located at the back side of the housing. The housing and various elements of the housing are not shown, as these elements are well known and are not a part of the inventive subject matter.

Operation:

The tobacco feeder 1 is mounted on the tobacco press 2, so that the outlet of the tobacco feeder 1 is positioned above the compression chamber 4 of the upper plate 28. Switching on the main power source 91 starts the feeder stepper motor 8, which causes the rotor 6 with its conical spines 6 to rotate. The spines 6 collect and pass a charge of tobacco suitable to fill a cigarette tube down through feeder outlet to the compression chamber 4. The cam 12 in the tobacco press 2 raises and lowers the arm assembly 9, which in turn pushes the tobacco charge into the compression chamber 4. After filling the appropriate amount of tobacco, the arm assembly 9 continues to compress the tobacco until a signal from the sensor 33 switches off the motor 8, which interrupts the feed of tobacco into the chamber 4. When all the filling tobacco has been used, the clamping assembly 9 is lowered. Meanwhile, the sensor 33 signals the rotor to start rotating again, to feed another charge of tobacco.

When the clamping assembly 9 is pulled away from the compression chamber 4, the movable clamp 16 moves toward the resistance clamp 17 to press the tobacco charge into a suitable shape for insertion into a cigarette paper-tube. During this pressing operation, the sharp edges 21A, 23A of the respective liners 21 and 23, the clamps 16 and 17, and the upper plate 28 cut any excess of tobacco in the compression chamber 4, to obtain a charge with the appropriate amount of tobacco for a cigarette. The tobacco compressed between the clamps 16 and 17 by the front radial cutouts 21A, 23A is now shaped as a roll that has a diameter and length that corresponds to the internal diameter and length of the paper cigarette tube.

A paper-tube is placed at the mouthpiece 72 and the formed tobacco roll is injected into the paper-tube by the loading rod 31, which operates in a back-and-forth reciprocating motion. The rod 31 pushes through the bore 3 in the main body 15 of the press 2 and pushes the compressed tobacco roll through the mouthpiece 72 into the paper-tube. In the process of being filled, the paper-tube slides down the mouthpiece 72. When the paper-tube is completely filled with tobacco, it is moved through the block bore 82 and placed on the loading trolley 130.

The paper tubes are placed in the paper-tube dispenser 140. The size of the dispenser 34 depends on the size of the box for the paper tubes. To fill the dispenser 34, it is removed from the assembly 140, an open box of empty paper tubes is placed upside down in the dispenser 34. This arrangement allows the paper tubes to be easily moved though the open lid. The dispenser 34 with the empty paper tubes is placed on the paper tube dispensing unit 140 by using side leads provided on the paper-tube dispenser. Paper tubes are taken up by paper tube conveyor 45, one by one. Setting the belt 45 in motion causes the paper tubes, which are stacked above the belt 45, to drop down into spaces between the teeth, one tube in each space. The belt 45 moves the paper tubes to a feed channel 36. The empty paper-tubes move through the feed channel 36 to a slider unit 39, are separated from another, and are passed down, one by one, from both sides by the discharge channel 38 to the block 47. From here the empty paper-tube is passed down by two terminal rods 61A, 61B of the paper-tube tamper unit 160 and placed on the mouthpiece tube 72 of the indirect tobacco loading trolley 170.

Referring now to FIGS. 12.1 and 12.2, once filled, the cigarette is moved to discharge ports 82A or 82B in the unloading trolley block 82. The cigarette is pushed through the ports 82A, 82B and into the bumper 62, where it is positioned. Any excess tobacco that is sticking out from the end of the cigarette is cut off by a cutter 73 as the cigarette moves on the indirect trolley 170. After the feeding, forming, and injecting operations have been completed on one paper-tube, the indirect trolley 170 rides from position a to b and the unloading trolley 180 rides from position b to position a. During the travel of the unloading trolley, excess tobacco extending from port 81B is cut off, and the cigarette passed on for unloading. Meanwhile, port 81A is ready to receive another cigarette. The process of inserting empty paper tubes onto the mouthpiece 72 and of ejecting filled cigarettes is done by the paper-tube feeding unit with movable tamping rods. Filled cigarettes are discharged through the housing and fall into a hopper.

A set of sensors signals any detected malfunctions.

It is understood that the embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the present invention. Variations in the construction of the cigarette-tube filling device may be contemplated by one skilled in the art without limiting the intended scope of the invention herein disclosed and as defined by the following claims. 

1. A cigarette-tube filling device for manufacturing cigarettes by pressing a charge of tobacco into a tobacco roll and inserted the roll into a preformed cigarette paper tube, the cigarette-tube filling device comprising: a support structure; and tobacco processing units that include: a tobacco feeder that includes a tobacco hopper and a rotatable rotor with conical spines mounted in a lower portion of the tobacco hopper; a tobacco press that includes a compression chamber provided in a steel body and a clamping assembly mounted on the steel body, and wherein the tobacco feeder is mounted above the tobacco press so as to feed a dose of tobacco into compression chamber of the tobacco press; a tobacco injector that injects the tobacco roll into an empty cigarette paper tube; a paper tube dispenser; and a cigarette unloading trolley; wherein all tobacco processing units are mounted on the support structure.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein the compression chamber is a four-walled window that receives the dose of tobacco from the tobacco feeder, one wall being non-parallel to an opposite wall, wherein the lower edges of the compression chamber walls are sharp, so as to cut tobacco.
 3. The device of claim 2, wherein the steel body has a through-bore corresponding in diameter to the inner diameter of a cigarette tube and wherein the clamping assembly presses the dose of tobacco into a roll.
 4. The device of claim 3, wherein the clamping assembly includes two clamping plates, each having a clamping surface that is curved with an upper edge that is constructed to cut excess tobacco from the tobacco roll.
 5. The device of claim 3, wherein the tobacco injector presses the tobacco roll through the through-bore and into the empty cigarette tube.
 6. The device of claim 1, wherein the paper tube dispenser includes a conveyor for transporting individual cigarette paper tubes. 